Dann Hurlbert

Favorite Kindle Quotes: Ben Aaronovitch (1)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

Favorite Kindle Quotes featuring passage from Suddenly Rural Girl

“Never wear something round your neck
that you don’t want to be strangled with.”
Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London (book 1)

“I could smell saltwater and coffee, diesel and bananas,
chocolate and fish guts.”
Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London (book 1)

“She was a squat, angry-faced, middle-aged woman with lank brown hair who looked like she fought Rottweilers for a hobby.”
Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London (book 1)

If you’ve not read any Ben Aaronovitch, I’d definitely recommend his Rivers of London Series! Clever, funny, magical, and mysterious Contemporary Fiction novels. Check him out in goodreads.

And to learn more about my reading and writing, visit www.dannhurlbert.com!

When in Italy…Read Minnesotan?

Finished some touring of Cinque Terra along Italy’s northern coast . . . and then relaxed to finish a novel by a favorite Minnesota Author, William Kent Krueger. His This Tender Land remains my favorite, but he’s got good chops as an action/suspense novelist, too. This one was a slow start, but turned into a fun read!

Favorite Kindle Quotes: William Kent Krueger (5)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

“My mother couldn’t rail directly at God and so
she railed instead at my father.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

“In a small town nothing is private. Word spreads with the incomprehensibility of magic and the speed of plague.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

“Emil stood on the porch holding to one of the posts, tracking our procession with his sightless eyes in that way that made me think he could actually see us coming up the flagstone walk.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

If you’ve not read any William Kent Krueger, you should. He’s one of my favorites. Sweeping tales with well-constructed characters and beautiful landscapes (especially if you love Minnesota)! Check him out in goodreads.

And to learn more about my reading and writing, visit www.dannhurlbert.com!

Favorite Kindle Quotes: Lindsay Faye (3)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

“I realize I’d forget to trust in realities like gravity and sunrises.”
LINDSAY FAYE, THE GODS OF GOTHAM

“Crazier than a sack of river rats.”
Lindsay Faye, The Gods of Gotham

“If war was required to end such stories, then I wanted a war.”
Lindsay Faye, The Gods of Gotham

If you’ve not read any Lindsay Faye, I’d recommend her work! Smart and beautifully descriptive mysteries. Check her out in goodreads.

And to learn more about my reading and writing, visit www.dannhurlbert.com!

Favorite Kindle Quotes: Tina Connolly (3)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

“Jane made her shaky legs go forward,
heart galloping a mile a minute.”
Tina Connolly, IronSkin

“Small tendrils of happiness curled off the spring air,
coiled around Jane’s skin.”
Tina Connolly, IronSkin

“He freed her from his grasp but not his gaze.”
Tina Connolly, IronSkin

I got to know Tina while we were both doing theater in Kansas City years ago. She’s a talented writer, too! Check her out in goodreads.

And to learn more about my reading and writing, visit www.dannhurlbert.com!

Favorite Kindle Quotes: William Kent Krueger (4)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

“She took up her crowbar and jammed the chiseled end under the big stone and using the smaller stone as the fulcrum of her lever she put the force of her whole body into prying the obstacle loose from the grip of the hard clay. Her face squeezed into intense lines of determination and I looked at her bare arms and marveled at how muscled they were and how the veins there ran in long thick tendrils under her skin.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

“Doyle’s face was cold as winter concrete.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

“She was flesh without spirit, eyes without sight.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

If you’ve not read any William Kent Krueger, you should. He’s one of my favorites. Sweeping tales with well-constructed characters and beautiful landscapes (especially if you love Minnesota)! Check him out in goodreads.

And to learn more about my reading and writing, visit www.dannhurlbert.com!

Favorite Kindle Quotes: Adam Blai (1)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

“Our fascination with miracles is inextricably tied up with our fear of death. Miracles give us hope for preservation from suffering and, ultimately, an escape from death.”

Adam Blai, the Catholic Guide to Miracles

“It is all real. God is real. Angels and demons are real. The spiritual world is real. Jesus Christ is alive and present as I write this,
and with you…”
Adam Blai, the Catholic Guide to Miracles

“A number of secondary phenomena have been observed alongside divine ecstasies throughout the history of the Church. These include: stigmatization (manifesting the wounds of Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion on a person’s body), levitation (rising or staying suspended in the air with no support), luminous effluvia (light emanating from a person), odoriferous effluvia (pleasant smells coming from a person with no normal source), mystical abstinence (living only on the daily Eucharist for weeks, months, or years without losing weight), and powers over nature (such as the ability to control the weather or animals). “
Adam Blai, the Catholic Guide to Miracles

If you’ve not read any Adam Blai, you might consider The Catholic Guide to Miracles. His exorcism writing is considerably darker, but this is both insightful and hopeful. Check him out in goodreads.

And to learn more about my reading and writing, visit www.dannhurlbert.com!

Favorite Kindle Quotes: William Kent Krueger (3)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

“My father had never struck us but he could speak in a way that made you feel as if you’d offended God himself..'”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

“Thanks to Jake the truth was already
there in front of us like a puddle of puke.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

“And when they were gone the house was silent and empty, a place that felt as if a tornado had swept past and sucked out the air and neither Gus nor Jake wanted to linger.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

If you’ve not read any William Kent Krueger, you should. He’s one of my favorites. Sweeping tales with well-constructed characters and beautiful landscapes (especially if you love Minnesota)! Check him out in goodreads.

And to learn more about my reading and writing, visit www.dannhurlbert.com!

Favorite Kindle Quotes: Tina Connolly (2)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

“Even in her imagination, the clock would not turn back far enough to put her father on the bench with them.”
Tina Connolly, IronSkin

“His hair was curled, his nose straight, his teeth white and present,
but Jane did not find the arrangement of it all pleasing.
More to the point, his ruddy face lacked character.”
Tina Connolly, IronSkin

“
“Faith in your decision did not mean that
the best was going to happen.”
Tina Connolly, IronSkin

I got to know Tina while we were both doing theater in Kansas City years ago. She’s a talented writer, too! Check her out in goodreads.

And to learn more about my reading and writing, visit www.dannhurlbert.com!

Favorite Kindle Quotes: Lindsay Faye (2)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

“Aggressively incompetent.”
LINDSAY FAYE, THE GODS OF GOTHAM

“That was about as comforting as a split basket of snakes.”
Lindsay Faye, The Gods of Gotham

“The once-delicate pink wallpaper was peeling in shreds as if the foyer suffered from leprosy.”
Lindsay Faye, The Gods of Gotham

If you’ve not read any Lindsay Faye, I’d recommend her work! Smart and beautifully descriptive mysteries. Check her out in goodreads.

And to learn more about my reading and writing, visit www.dannhurlbert.com!

Facing Instructional Videos

In my role at Carleton College, I work directly with faculty to help them plan, produce, and evaluate darn-good instructional videos. One topic that often comes up is “should I include my face in the video?” My gut answer is . . . “yes.” Various studies indicate videos with faces are preferred by students, and any chance we have to help students enjoy their learning, the better. Here’s a short video that brings all that research together into a single, easily consumable nugget:

This video was originally shared on Carleton’s Academic Technology Blog in 2018. For more ed tech tips, check out

Favorite Kindle Quotes: William Kent Krueger (2 of 4)

As I read my Kindle, I highlight intriguing or beautifully descriptive passages from the novel. Here are a few recent . . .

“He had red hair and freckles and freakish ears that stood out
like the handles on a sugar bowl.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

“Oh when she sang she could make a fence post cry. When she sang she could make people laugh or dance or fall in love or go to war.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

“From down the riverbank near the trestle came a snapping like the break of a million tiny bones. A large animal was forcing its way through the brush.”
William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

If you’ve not read any William Kent Krueger, you should. He’s one of my favorites. Sweeping tales with well-constructed characters and beautiful landscapes (especially if you love Minnesota)! Check him out in goodreads.